Some of these projects are very fun to work on and tinker with, while others seem a chore at the moment. I suspect that the reason my passion has waned some has to do with the volume of works that need completion. Add to this that I'm not especially good at organizing, and you can see how things can spin out of control very quickly. Nevertheless, writers write. And that's what I'm going to get back to. Enjoy your day/evening.
Writing as a Job
Writing is my passion, but sometimes it feels like a job (and one that's not particularly enjoyable). At the moment, there's a smorgasbord of projects laid out and I'm faced with the great task of organizing everything. On the front burner, I'm working with a documentary film director on a project called "The Valley of Death." I'm also twenty pages into a new novel, titled "The Lamp." Between those two, I'm doing re-writes on a screenplay (it's the movie version of The Island of Ted). On the back burner, I'm working on turning another screenplay (Charlie Plum) into a novel, although the title will probably change. In the oven (which is still pre-heating) I'm looking at a third novel (crime), titled "Fishing with Joe." And then there's the ever-looming non-fiction idea I'm attempting to flesh out for a possible book.
My Universal Shoot
I shot and directed a promo video for Universal Studios this past weekend. I can't say much about the content until it's released, but you can probably tell from the pictures that it has something to do with a certain western coming out soon. For you technophiles out there, I shot this on a Canon 7D in 1080 24p. I used an 18-135 lens for the outdoors footage and a Sigma 28mm 1.8 for the interiors. Lighting was done with an Arri tungsten kit, even though I exposed for daylight. The following pics are screenshots from the actual footage, not still photos! The footage is also not color corrected, it's just raw footage.
Amazon Sale!!!
Amazon just put my book on sale (28% off). I've been waiting for them to lower the price. This makes the book accessible to more people.
The Island of Ted
The Island of Ted
Writing and Price Dropping
So I got hired to write a treatment for a documentary film about social security and the "silver tsunami" (aging boom) that's currently taking place. The issues of social security and medicare/medicaid are profoundly depressing, especially in light of an aging boom. Therefore, I'd like to focus more on possible solutions to a severely broken government system. Social security works, but only if two requirements are met: the government doesn't dip into it to pay for other things, and the population of the workforce balances those receiving retirement benefits. Well, neither of those were able to be maintained for long, so the system is almost bankrupt. But there are options... and you'll learn about them in the movie. :-)
The Kindle and Nook versions of The Island of Ted went on sale two days ago and have seen a massive jump in sales through those channels. The paperback is moving slowly, as I suspect people aren't willing to trust a first time author they haven't read. However, the ebooks are so cheap, most readers don't have trouble hitting the Buy Now button. A film version of The Island of Ted has been in the pipeline for a couple years, so hopefully the books sales will continue to grow and force that ship to sail (all the way to a theater near you).
Working Out
Many posts ago, I mentioned my current workout routine. Although I've made some slight modifications, the goal is still gaining strength on usually one exercise per day. I cheat on that last one as I have a greater supply of energy. Last night I did 5 sets of bench press, with 6 repetitions for each set. The day before I did pull ups and t-bar deadlifts. The day before that... air squats, leg extensions and kettblebell swings.
My goal is to do one exercise per day and hit it hard, but as my strength increases I don't mind adding other movements here and there. The one exercise per day rule is just my minimum. But it's an effective minimum, I think. There's really nothing like lifting heavy weights. Since I've been on this strength training kick, I've noticed that my sleep is much deeper and I generally feel more mellow. I suppose that's because weight lifting burns through some kind of stress hormone and evens you out. Then again, I'm a college dropout, not an expert on exercise science.
Book Campaign!
I got a $100 Google AdWords coupon in the mail the other day so I signed up for an account. So far I've had nearly 12,000 impressions (meaning, that's how many times the ad for my book has loaded when people search) and only 10 clicks resulting from it. My friend told me to drop my daily allowance on AdWords from $25 to $8. I also added a few more keywords. This whole thing is a big experiment to see if the program works for selling eBooks on the Kindle, which is my main priority as an author right now.
The above banner will also run on KindleBoards (the #1 site for Kindle owners) on February 18 and 23rd. I picked those dates because Friday and Wednesday are the top days for book buyers. I assume the reason is that most people get their paychecks on those days. The banner will run for one full day on each date, and each ad costs $40. I've also solicited (and still am) book bloggers who would be willing to read and review my book. Without a huge marketing team behind the book, it's going to take word-of-mouth to get it going. I can pay a couple of bills with what I made last month on Amazon, so my goal is to cover a few more bills.
Hustle Online Soon
Well, I've spent that last three weeks editing my new short film "Hustle." It's a heartbreaking story about a teenage girl who lives on the streets. I'm very anxious to show this film to the masses because I'm curious to hear how different people will interpret the narrative. It's a short film, but definitely packs a punch. If you like simple, deep storytelling... I think you'll dig this little flick. Here are a few stills from the movie.
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